Battle of New York
Background The Soviet forces in West Germany had disintegrated, fleeing to the relative safety in the east. The situation was unacceptable to commander Moskvin, who conceived a plan to humble the Allies immensely and perhaps stop them in their tracks. Though politically not important, the metropolis of New York City was an economic and cultural centre like no other, not only for the United States but also for the world. Though there was no chance for occupation, a strike against it would be a mighty blow to the Allies. Moskvin could not contact anyone higher than him, given that there were none; the actions by Cherdenko are better explained elsewhere. Without authorization or any support from any other functioning officers, Moskvin set his plan in motion. He set up movie projectors on major routes of retreat, and played various popular Russian movies. When enough conscripts stopped to watch, his officers rounded them up and drafted them into Moskvin’s personal army. All the tricked conscripts in the world couldn’t walk over the Atlantic, though, so Moskvin conducted a more organised retreat to Arkhangelsk, where the battered remnants of the Soviet White Sea fleet were located. With a bit of pressure, Admiral Conchaka agreed to do one last glorious run to attack the hated United States. Embarking on the ships, they steamed the very treacherous route through the Arctic Ocean, losing the occasional ship to an iceberg. In some areas, fire from the ships was used to break ice sheets. Coming from a completely unexpected angle, they were able to skirt Atlantic Canada and New England to strike at the metropolis itself. Force Composition Soviet Forces Other than Moskvin’s personal MCV and the remains of his once mighty Tesla Tank battalion, his invasion mostly consisted of a motley collection of men from different units all collected together haphazardly. Even some convict soldiers were included. Notably lacking were commissars, who wouldn’t allow Moskvin to do all he was doing in any case. To supplement his meagre forces, he personally bribed three Twinblade crews to join him. Also importantly, he found a crate of Terror Drones left in a broken truck. Though usually released during a battle and of little importance, here they would play a vital part. Conchaka had done her best to keep the White Sea fleet together after setbacks in the North Sea, but had been forced to flee to a friendly port far from the front, while its Akulas were transferred elsewhere. Without any ability to affect the war, the North Sea Fleet sat in port until Moskvin ordered them out. Most notably was the battered but venerable Dreadnought-class CCCP Novosibirsk, no longer being called upon due too shore bombardment now being too risky. Along with its escorting Stingrays and Bullfrogs was another capital ship, the CCCP Tyunina, an old Potemkin class. However, this was lost to an ice sheet and abandoned, where it lies to this day. Allied Forces The 1st Infantry Battalion, a small detachment of the 2nd Allied Army Group, was literally holding the fort at Fort Bradley, as most of the large base’s resources was on the West Coast fighting the Rising Sun. Being Peacekeepers, though, this small amount of men was still effective enough to fight off a variety of threats. Given its location in the centre of everything, they were very well equipped, every man and dog capable of being mechanised. Mostly, the whole battalion was for show, and for the recruiting and training of enlisted men. All non-Peacekeeper accredited soldiers were evacuated. While Fort Bradley had a variety of vehicles, weapons, and equipment for training, very few were combat ready. Air cover was considered of minimal importance, and left to the New York Air National Guard, which was mostly for rescue and airlifts. However, the 174th Fighter Group protected the state from all foes. Understrength because of squadrons being transferred west, including all of the Apollos, the 174th was still a daunting foe. The group was almost all Cutlasses, as there was no threat that prompted a VTOL system. Various other people protected New York. The New York Police Department (NYPD) was unsuited for warfare and mostly dealt with evacuating civilians. Its riot squad was very well equipped, having purchased 6 ARVs from Beaver and Co. Motor Company earlier that year. Most notably, Special Agent Tanya was forced to go on leave due in order to not violate Allied tour of duty requirements, and surprisingly complied. During that time, she was mostly maintaining her collection of weapons and engaging in drinking contests with civilians. City That Never Sleeps Halfway before the fleet had even reached New York, a Bullfrog and a Stingray had detached from the main fleet carrying a few trusted sailors. Upon reaching a fishing vessel that was on route to New York City, they launched on board and executed the crew before they could radio for help. The Stingray pulled alongside and transferred the crate of Terror Drones to the crew, before both ships rejoined the main fleet. Without the Allies any wiser, the civilian trawler steamed into New York harbour. Illegally porting in Lower Manhattan, and not responding to any radio challenges, the Soviet sailors, under cover as Americans, opened their crate. By this time, an NYPD patrol car had been dispatched to investigate the disturbance on the dock. Before the car had stopped, however, a terror drone jumped out of the trawler and onto the police cruiser, ripping open its roof and impaling the policemen inside. Within minutes more terror drones were swarming out of the trawler and into the city proper. Though the drones were programmed not to attack civilians (dead Peacekeepers would frighten Allied citizens, dead civilians would anger them) the drones did nothing to communicate this fact, terrifying people in the streets. Police were attacked on sight to disguise the fact that most terror drones were heading north to Fort Bradley, a fact helped by a few individual drones that had been ordered to avoid Fort Bradley entirely. Live news footage finally alerted the 1st Battalion to action. Fully half the Peacekeepers embarked on their Riptides and headed south to hunt down the terror drones, a difficult task as the small drones could hide in buildings, sewers, even vehicles. Another quarter of the men, assisted by the NYPD, started evacuating Manhattan Island, a task that would take hours if not days but needed to be started. This left just 80 men to defend Fort Bradley. Colonel Stone could not reach agent Tanya; she was in the Upper West Side, impressing a group of children by shooting cans off a fence. By chance, a terror drone found Tanya while she had just emptied her guns, and prepared to disembowel her. Thinking quickly, she took her knife out of her boot and threw it, hitting the drone squarely in a critical spot and disabling it immediately, to the applause of the youngsters. Realising New York was under attack, she headed immediately to Fort Bradley, borrowing a civilian car to make better time. In Washington DC, President Ackerman heightened the alert level. The New York National Guard was mobilized. The air force was immediately scrambled, but the ground forces would take hours to get to New York City. Commandergrad While all eyes were on the city, the Soviet fleet appeared from the haze into New York Harbour. While the MCV and bullfrogs landed in Brooklyn to set up whatever base could be improvised, and the Twinblades took off to destroy any Riptide or police car it could find, Moskvin had a different, more sadistic plan. He ordered Conchaka to begin firing on Manhattan proper. When she refused to comply with the order to bombard civilian targets, Moskvin took out his pistol and shot her dead. He then ordered the bridge crew to comply or share her fate, which they had no choice to. The Soviet base in Brooklyn Heights Waterfront was quickly constructed, and the MiGs given a base to launch from to solidify aerial superiority. The Soviet infantry, supported by Tesla Tanks, swarmed across Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge, interrupting Allied attempts to demolish them. Attempts to keep unit cohesion failed, though, as the Soviets had to cope with the maze-like grid pattern of Manhattan’s streets, many blocked off by Peacekeepers forming a shield wall, or occasionally an NYPD ARV, as well as fleeing civilians. Despite this, the Soviet infantry swarmed to Fort Bradley, besieging the 80 Peacekeepers inside. The Soviet also occupied Southern Manhattan, finally prompting the end of Moskvin’s bombardment in order to not hit his own troops, though many city blocks were demolished in the meantime. Though of little military value, the Soviets were eager to capture Wall Street, especially the New York Stock Exchange, to show the futility of capitalism. Many stockbrokers, bankers, and tycoons were arrested for crimes against humanity and herded to temporary prisons, mostly locked offices. In the Oval Office, president Ackerman raised the alert level to maximum. All Allied forces east of Colorado Springs were rallied to New York City. Most ground forces wouldn’t make it in time, but those that could make it were air cavalry if the city could be saved and Century Bombers if it couldn’t. Lone Guardian Tanya had reached a badly damaged Fort Bradley, with many of its defenders killed, though they had managed to destroy the Tesla tanks. Smashing her car through the legs of a Stingray and fishtailing dead into the company command, Tanya provoked the ill-disciplined troops into a wild chase on their Bullfrogs, allowing the men in Fort Bradley to consolidate their position. A Twinblade called in to support the group finally fired on Tanya, who used her time belt to escape as her car was turned to scrap, leaving Tanya to skid along the pavement after suddenly appearing above the road with an impressive amount of forward velocity. Before the Twinblade could finish her, however, it was destroyed by fire from a Cutlass from the New York Air National Guard, which had arrived at that moment. The Cutlasses and the MiGs fought over the city, often engaging in daring chases between the buildings themselves. The other two Twinblades were also destroyed shortly afterward. At this brazen attack, the Soviets melted away into the city, resolving to ambush any Allies that came across their streets, shooting from the windows of buildings they occupied. The Peacekeeper squads still mounted were tasked with rooting out these fortified invaders, often resorting to demolishing whole buildings. Tanya, in the meantime, acquired a messenger's motorcycle and a bundle of explosives from Fort Bradley and drove south, slipping through civilian cars and skirmishes on her motorcycle and contributing well placed shots to individual gun battles as she flew past. Moskvin was furious that his men on the ground couldn’t achieve the simple objective of smashing Fort Bradley. He ordered the Novosibirsk to turn about and head for Liberty Island. His plan was to demolish the Statue of Liberty in order to tear down the morale of the defenders of New York, as well as the Allies in general. The dreadnought’s forward missile tube had jammed earlier, however, and much of the Novosibirsk's crew were ashore fighting and unable to man the rocket pads. A group of seamen had to clear the obstruction manually, a dangerous and time consuming task. However, the moment they succeeded the Statue of Liberty was doomed. Tanya had to act fast. Ramping her motorbike into the Hudson, she swam towards the Novosibirsk and began climbing up the side of the hull. Unfortunately, it was too late, as the Dreadnought started firing its rockets, hitting the old statue and blowing off entire plates of copper, causing the long corroded arm to fall off into the bay. Another rocket fired into the neck of the statue, completely severing the head. Hitting the deck and quickly shooting the sailors trying to stop her, Tanya then climbed up the superstructure and onto the bridge itself. Moskvin and the bridge crew drew their sidearms and fired at Tanya, but she dashed to the other side and dived off the other side of the bridge, throwing something at Moskvin, who instinctively caught it. It turned out to be a block of C4 … and before she hit the water, Tanya hit the detonator. The bridge of the Novosibirsk vanished in a bright flash, and with their skeleton crew there was no chance to man the secondary bridge. The Novosibirsk ploughed nose-first into Liberty Island, crumpling the nose and causing the missile laying armed in the jammed front pod to detonate, ripping the ship in half. Over the groans of tortured metal and bubbling oil, a female voice could be heard, shouting her triumph. "Shake it, baby!" Aftermath Air cavalry from both the Peacekeepers and the US armed forces soon descended on New York City, landing wherever Soviet forces were, often on the roofs of the buildings they were in, as well as destroying the Soviet forward airfields in Brooklyn and hunting down the remaining terror drones. The Centuries that would demolish the city had the Soviets had conquered it were called off, to everyone's relief. Within hours more armed forces entered the city, clearing it of Soviet presence and assisting with civilian casualties. It is known that there is are at least one squad of Soviet infantry still active in New York City; having run out of ammunition during the battle, they now mostly harass police with graffiti, noise violations and petty vandalism. It is entirely possible they are simply not aware the war is over, and are hoping that Moskvin will call them back at some point. Rumours swirl that there are still terror drones active in the sewers under the city; according to these urban legends, the machines are gathering scrap to build more of their kind. These rumours were thought to be entirely baseless until a sewer worker pulled a half-constructed machine out of the tunnels under Wall Street. The damage to lower Manhattan was light compared to what happened in some European cities, but it was still seen as tragic, as large craters existed where once mighty skyscrapers had formed, while the civilian casualties were seen as uncomfortably high. Though the real movers of New York were saved (ironically by being arrested by Soviets), Lower Manhattan looked to have a dismal future. The New York Times ran a front page article a few days later titled Blight on the Big Apple, detailing the devastation. New Yorkers are, however, nothing if not stubborn, and Lower Manhattan was rebuilt grander than before. In the worst bombarded part of the city, in fact, rose one of the first arcologies outside a Sprawl in the world, built on what was a poor area once known for electronics shops. Premier Davidova is rumoured to have told the Politburo that this invasion was a mistake, and had Moskvin posthumously sent to gulag for life. On the other side of the world, a then unknown Malcolm Little, upon seeing the destruction war and hatred brought, discarded his original ideas on how to achieve social justice and vowed to be a pacifist, though still devoted to righting what’s wrong with the world. The United States and French government both contributed money to rebuild the Statue of Liberty, as well as donations from throughout the Allied Nations, from rich tycoons to school children. Within the year, the statue was rebuilt fully, even aged artificially to reclaim the green colour it had before its damage. Soon New Yorkers had even forgot it was damaged, reminded only by a small exhibit in a corner of the museum in its pedestal. Category:Battles